Present designs for some tubs, particularly Roman tubs, typically incorporate valve fittings which are mounted, together with a large spout, on the deck or alongside the tube or on an adjacent wall. The valve fittings typically have a threaded shank which serves to receive the water inlet and water outlet pipes and also may serve as the mounting means. There are some disadvantages to this conventional design approach. One disadvantage is that connections between the valve fitting and the water supply pipe cannot be made until after the surface finishing material is applied to the rough surface of the deck or wall, since for aesthetic reasons the handle assembly mounted on top of the valve fitting rests upon the finished surface. This is a disadvantage because surface finishing is not accomplished until after the deck or wall is closed up, which means installing an access panel in the deck or wall and having to make the pipe connections in a confined area through the typically small access panel. Another disadvantage is that a return trip by the plumber is necessitated after the rough plumbing is done in order to make the solder connections between the valve fitting and related water supply lines after finishing work on the wall or deck is completed.
Further, such valve fittings have fixed length shafts which do not permit wide variance in the roughing in dimensions for the placement of the water supply pipe.
The present invention provides a valve fitting fixture assembly for tubs, particularly Roman tub spouts, which is vertically adjustable relative to the rough wall. This permits the connections between the valve fitting and the related water supply pipes to be made at the same time the roughing in plumbing is done. It also permits the valve fitting to be easily installed after all the finishing work has been accomplished without the need for a return trip by the plumber in order to install the valve fittings.